Games should allow women to compete
A CALL has been made for more dames for the games.
It has long been seen as a male domain.
But now a plea has been made by one of the area's MSPs for Highland games organisers in the north to help more women to compete.
The Scottish Highland Games Association (SHGA), which has more than 60 members, has said there is not enough time – or prize money – to include women's events at the majority of events in the north of Scotland, and claim tourists, especially from the US, want to attend traditional Highland games.
The SHGA is due to meet the Scottish Government and tourist bodies to examine ways of increasing funding to promote Highland Games.
However, Rhoda Grant, Scottish Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said that if the SHGA wants funding it needs to prove it complies with gender fairness.
She said: "People coming to Highland games are coming to see people play sport. It is hugely sexist to say they are going to see men compete against men.
"It would take some work to agree a handicapping system but if the Scottish Highland Games Association hope to attract funding from the Scottish Government they will need to be seen as an organisation which treats women a equals."
Examples of gender discrimination are said to include Invercharron Highland Games where women enter a hill race against men but there is no handicapping involved to help women compete equally.
Tain only has two races for women. In all other events women compete against men with no handicapping.
Ian Grieve, secretary of the Scottish Highland Games Association, said: "A lot of overseas visitors come to Scotland to see traditional Highland games taking place so I don't think we will be looking at wholesale changes.
"We want to maintain the traditions of the games."
